The people, places, arts and culture of Ipswich will be celebrated when the 11-day city-wide festival SPARK Ipswich is held this July.
The festival will take music, comedy, arts, exhibitions, circus, projection, culture, cabaret, technology, collaboration and industry discussion across the city.
SPARK After Dark
Rug up and grab your smart device and headphones, and head out to the Ipswich CBD to experience SPARK After Dark.
The Bremer River becomes centre stage for Refraction – an art, light and water installation defined by the refraction of light through liquid to create an ever-changing kaleidoscope of colour. Refraction’s soundtrack will be playing at the Riverlink Amphitheatre and on the Riverheart Boardwalk. Or can be fully experienced by bringing a device and headphones and tuning into the web-based audio experience.
Best viewing is from Riverheart Boardwalk, Riverlink Shopping Centre, David Trumpy Bridge and Bradfield Bridge.
Just a short walk from Refraction, SPARK After Dark’s deLight will transform the iconic St Mary’s Church at Woodend into a canvas showcasing local artworks through projection, reflecting the culture of Ipswich, its people and places. Different artists will be profiled each night of the festival.
In the Nicholas Street Precinct, University of Southern Queensland engineering students will blend science, art and tech when they take over the façade of the new Ipswich City Council administration building with pixel – an LED light activation created through vector equations and matrices.
SPARK After Dark events are free, see Spark After Dark from July 8-18.
Little Day Out
Families are a big focus throughout SPARK Ipswich, with the first contemporary music and arts festival for children, called Little Day Out, to engage the young and young at heart.
The bespoke music and arts celebration at Ripley Town Centre is aimed at children under 10 and will have a focus on sustainability and be bursting with music, hands-on arts experiences including a 7m paint by numbers street art mural, roving entertainment, a silent disco, food and fun.
Seventeen-year-old North Ipswich artist Hanna Jones, who is a former Queensland Youth Week art competition winner, has designed the event’s colourful look and feel.
Little Day Out will be held across two sessions – 9am to 11.30am and 1pm to 3.30pm – and headlining the main stage is Regurgitator’s POGOGO Show which promises a witty and silly musical mash-up of funk, pop and rock.
Party Playground will deliver a high energy, super fun cabaret show. The Feral Cats of Tokyo bring their electrifying concert by children for children, and Circus Ipswich will showcase the talents of the city’s youngest circus stars.
Little Day Out is $5 per entry. Children aged three to 10 years receive a festival t-shirt or colour-in tote, while stocks last. Children two years and under do not need a ticket.
Little Day Out will be held on Sunday July 18, tickets are available online.
SPARK on Tour
SPARK Ipswich is hitting the road, taking the festival fun to small halls across the region.
Enjoy side-splitting fun when Chores, a performance for all ages, visits Brassall, Peak Crossing, Goodna and Rosewood. It is about two excitable brothers who are definitely, probably, maybe, just about to, do the chores their mother has asked them to do.
The magic of circus will be shared in workshops by Circus Ipswich Workshops. SPARK on Tour events cost $5 per person, $15 for a family of four and $20 for a family of five.
Waghorn to West
Music lovers will be spoiled for choice, with 16 acts across eight sessions taking over four live music venues along Brisbane Street, between Waghorn and West Streets, for an epic night of indie live music.
Experience the best of what the Queensland music scene has to offer alongside some of Ipswich’s most exciting up and coming musicians.
Catch everything from electronic, rock, R&B, soul, rap, hip-hop, folk, dance and pop as you move between Circa 160, Goleby’s Basement, Ipswich Central Hotel and Studio 188.
One of the acts is local Tom Thum, known as one of Australia’s greatest beat boxers, he is proving to be a creative force to be reckoned with (check out his work on YouTube).
Another is Sahara Beck, the award winning musician has toured with the likes of The Rubens and graced festival stages such as Blues Fest, The Falls Music and Arts Festival and Woodford Folk Festival.
Waghorn to West runs July 10, Entry is $15 per session.
Dirty Laundry
The festival will draw to a close on July 18 with a night to remember, when after 10 years of selling out festivals worldwide, Briefs Factory bring their Dirty Laundry cabaret show to Ipswich.
Led by former Raceview local Fez Faanana, aka Shivanana, Dirty Laundry promises a night of physicality, gob-smacking comedy, unapologetic truths and ridiculous showmanship.
Also on during SPARK Ipswich is:
Splash Test Dummies July 8: The Dummies are back with some splish splashing circus set to drown you in tears of laughter.
Lincoln Austin: The Space Between Us, July 8-18: Art and audiences converge to celebrate the exquisite geometry of Lincoln Austin
Jimeoin Ramble On! July 10: A stalwart of Australian comedy and all-round likeable rogue, comedian Jimeoin presents his new stand-up show Ramble On!
Best of British July 16: Ipswich Orpheus Chorale, Amberley Brass and Jam Pact, join forces with Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra.
WOMI July 16-18: Featuring music from across the globe, WOMI celebrates Ipswich’s vibrant world music scene.